poetry

Ghālib b. Ṣaʿṣaʿa

GhalibEI.pdf GhÄlib b. á¹¢aÊ¿á¹£aÊ¿a b. NÄdjiya b. Ê¿Iá¸³Äl b. Muá¸¥ammad b. SufyÄn b. MudjÄshiÊ¿ b. DÄrim, an eminent TamÄ«mÄ«, famous for his generosity, the father of the poet alFarazdaá¸³. The tradition that GhÄlib was a contemporary of the Prophet (lahu idrÄk) seems to be valid; the tradition that he visited the Prophet and asked him about the reward of the deeds of his father in the time of the DjÄhiliyya (AghÄnÄ«, xix, 4) seems however to be spurious. GhÄlib belonged to the generation after the Prophet; his name is connected with the names of á¹¬alba b. á¸²ays b. ÉÄá¹£im and ÉUmayr b. al-Sulayl al-ShaybÄnÄ«, tribal leaders in the time of MuÉÄwiya, in the story of the men of Kalb who tried to find the most generous man (AghÄnÄ«, xix, 5; in Ibn Abi Él-á¸¤adÄ«d's Shará¸¥, iii, 426, ed. 1329 A.H., GhÄlib is mentioned with Aktham b. á¹¢ayfÄ« and ÉUtayba b. al-á¸¤Ärith, which is an obvious anachronism). The most generous man among the three sayyids was indeed GhÄlib. (GhÄlib was a neighbour of á¹¬alba in al-SÄ«dÄn, in the vicinity of KÄáºima). He is said to have visited ÉAlÄ« b. AbÄ« á¹¬Älib and introduced to him his son al-Farazdaá¸³; ÉAlÄ« recommended him to teach his son the á¸²urÉÄn. (According to the tradition of AghÄnÄ«, xix, 6 he visited him in Baá¹£ra after the battle of the Camel. According to the story quoted in BaghdÄdÄ«'s KhizÄna, i, 108, GhÄlib was then an old man; al-Farazdaá¸³ was in his early youth). GhÄlib earned his fame by his generosity. Muá¸¥ammad b. á¸¤abÄ«b counts him in his list of the generous men of the DjÄhiliyya (al-Muá¸¥abbar, 142); al-DjÄá¸¥iáº stresses that he was one of the generous men of the Islamic period, not inferior to the generous men of the DjÄhiliyya, although public opinion prefers the latter (al-á¸¤ayawÄn, ii, 108, ed. ÉAbd alSalÄm HÄrÅ«n). GhÄlib is said to have granted bounteous gifts to people, not asking them even about their names. The story of his contest with Suá¸¥aym b. WathÄ«l al-RiyÄá¸¥Ä« in slaughtering camels in the time of ÉUthmÄn is quoted in many versions. Al-Farazdaá¸³
mentions this deed of his father boastfully in his poems; DjarÄ«r refers to it disdainfully; the competition was censured in Islam as a custom of the DjÄhiliyya (Goldziher, Muh. St., i, 60). A peculiar story in Naá¸³ÄÊ¾iá¸ 417 tells how he threw to the populace in Mecca (anhaba) 40,000 dirhams. GhÄlib was assaulted by DhakwÄn b. ÉAmr al-Fuá¸³aymÄ« in consequence of a quarrel between Fuá¸³aymÄ« men and a servant of GhÄlib who tried to prevent them from drinking water from a reservoir belonging to GhÄlib in al-á¸²ubaybÄt. MudjÄshiÉÄ« tradition denies the Fuá¸³aymÄ« claim that GhÄlib died in consequence of this assault. He died in the early years of the reign of MuÉÄwiya and was buried at KÄáºima. Al-Farazdaá¸³ mourned his father in a number of elegies (cf. DÄ«wÄn al-Farazdaá¸³, 163, 210, 611, 676, ed. al-á¹¢ÄwÄ«). His tomb became a refuge for the needy and the oppressed who asked help, which had indeed always been granted to them by al-Farazdaá¸³ (cf. DÄ«wÄn al-Farazdaá¸³, 94, 191, 757, 893 and Naá¸³ÄÊ¾iá¸ 380). Al-Farazdaá¸³ often mentions him in his poems as âDhu Él-á¸²abrâ or âá¹¢Äá¸¥ib al-Djadathâ (Goldziher, Muh. St., i, 237). (M.J. Kister) Bibliography In addition to the sources quoted in the article: BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, Ms. 971a-b, 972a, 974a, 978b, 992a, 1043b al-MarzubÄnÄ«, MuÊ¿djam, 486 al-Mubarrad, al-KÄmil, 129, 280 Ibn á¸²utayba, K. al-Ê¿Arab (RasÄÊ¾il al-BulaghÄÊ¾), 350 idem, ShiÊ¿r, ed. de Goeje, index
Ibn Durayd, Ishtiá¸³Äá¸³, ed. HÄrÅ«n, 239-40 Al-DjÄá¸¥iáº, al-BayÄn, ed. al-SandÅ«bÄ«, ii, 187, 225, iii, 139, 195 AghÄnÄ« , index Naá¸³ÄÊ¾iá¸, ed. Bevan, index al-Djumaá¸¥Ä«, á¹¬abaá¸³Ät, ed. SÌ²hÌ²Äkir, 261 al-á¸²ÄlÄ«, AmÄlÄ«, ii, 120 idem, Dhayl al-AmÄlÄ«, 52, 77 YÄá¸³Å«t s.v. á¹¢awÉar, Miá¸³arr Ibn á¸¤adjar, al-Iá¹£Äba, s.v. GhÄlib (N. 6925), Suá¸¥aym (N. 3660), al-Farazdaá¸³ (N. 7029), Hunayda (N. 1115-women) BaghdÄdÄ«, KhizÄna, i, 462 al-ÉAynÄ«, al-Maá¸³Äá¹£id, i, 112 [on margin of KhizÄna] al-Farazdaá¸³, DÄ«wÄn, ed. al-á¹¢ÄwÄ« á¹¬abarÄ«, ed. Cairo 1939, iv, 179. [Print Version: Volume II, page 998, column 1] Citation: Kister, M. J. "GhÄlib b. á¹¢aÉá¹£aÉa b. NÄdjiya b. ÉIá¸³Äl b. Muá¸¥ammad b. SufyÄn b. MudjÄshiÉ b. DÄrim." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; and W. P. Heinrichs.
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